A thick trail of smoke is seen in the sky soon after the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden lunar mission at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, north of Chennai, India, Wednesday, October 22 2008. India launched its first mission to the moon Wednesday, rocketing the satellite up into the pale dawn sky in a two-year mission to redraw maps of the lunar surface. This unmanned mission to the moon marks a giant catch-up step with Japan and China in the fast-developing Asian space rac

Indian Space Research Organization scientists viewed on a television screen are seen congratulating each other after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1. (Aijaz Rahi, AP)

Cameramen crowd on a terrace as they prepare to cover the launch of Chandrayaan-1. (Aijaz Rahi, AP)

People crowd on a terrace to witness the launch of Chandrayaan-1. (Aijaz Rahi, AP)

Indian Space Research Organization Chairman G. Madhavan Nair raises his hands to celebrate the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1. The satellite's name means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit. (Aijaz Rahi, AP)

Indian Space Research Organization Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, second left, and his colleagues hold a model of India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, after its successful launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. (Aijaz Rahi, AP)

Chandrayaan-1 is seen successfully taking off at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. (Indian Space Research Organization, AP)

Chairman of The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G.Madhavan Nair gestures during a press conference at The Satish Dhawan Space Centre after the successful launch of the PSLV. Officials said the lift-off, which took place in cloudy skies at 6:22 am (0052 GMT), was a "great success", with the rocket placing the craft into a transfer orbit around the globe within 19 minutes. (Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP)

(Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP)

A model of the Chandrayaan-1 sits on display during a press conference at The Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. (Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP)

(Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP)

India's PSLV-C11 blasts off from the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. (AFP)

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